The Road Less Traveled
by Aarik076
Summary: A world filled with terrifyingly powerful creatures, hidden plots, and cruel organizations. This is the world Ash Ketchum steps out into; yet his ambitions are a bit different than most. While most focus on fame and fortune...all Ash wants is a family; and he'll do anything to protect them. This is a story about the bonds he'll make with his team, and just how far he'll go for them
1. Prologue

Before we start this story, I would like to make a few things clear about the direction it will be taking. First and foremost, this story will not have romance. Period. If you're looking for that, I suggest you hit that back button. Secondly, the focus of this story will be Ash and his interactions with his team; how they grow together, and to what lengths they will go for each-other. Third, the supernatural tag is there for a reason. There will be some serious things going down, and I'm making up some ideas that are most definitely not classified as normal. Fourth, trainers start their journeys at the age of 16 here; the idea of sending prepubescent children out into the world alone is beyond idiotic; and that's before you factor in the supernatural, reality-defying beasts that are pokemon. Lastly, this will not be a light-hearted story; that M rating is for a reason. It will at times be very touching, but it will also at other times be horrific; this is a story in which slinging around beams of energy don't 'lightly scorch' people, they incinerate them.

Disclaimer: If it wasn't already painfully obvious, I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape, or form. That honor lies with Game Freak and Nintendo; I just enjoy playing in their sandpit.

For readers of my old stories:

….Well, for those who knew me before; it's been a while, hasn't it? To make a long story short, I make no excuses for my absence but will simply say this; life has a way of really kicking you in the gonads. But this is a story, not a life rant; I'll be updating my profile soon for those who want a little more detail of what my return entails, but for now and without further ado:

Aarik076 presents, for your pleasure;

The Road Less Traveled

Prologue

If you were to ask anyone in Pallet Town what first came to mind when given mention the name "Ash Ketchum", you would get a variety of answers, but most would hover somewhere around 'hyper', 'ball-of-sunshine', 'outgoing', and in the case of a certain professor's grandson, 'dork'. For all of these answers except perhaps the last, they would be absolutely right. Eight-year-old Ash Ketchum was for all intents and purposes a nigh-inexhaustible ball of energy that flitted around town and Professor Oak's ranch when not in school (in which case he simply vibrated at his desk). If one was foolish enough to even mention the word 'pokemon' within his vicinity, they would likely find themselves at the nonexistent mercy of his endless, inarticulate babble about the subject.

One would hope that at home, his parents would reign in his hyper-exuberance, if only for their own sanity. One would also be greatly dismayed to find out that quite the opposite occurred. For starters, there is only one parent; one Delia Ketchum. Ash never knew his father, and due to the melancholic, faraway look his mother gained the few times he asked, he simply stopped asking. That being said, his passion for pokemon was matched by Delia; her apprenticeship to Professor Oak was more than proof enough of that. When together at home, Ash would listen with rapt attention to his mother as she ranted about theories and discoveries; even when he could only understand half of them on a good day. In spite of his lack of understanding (or perhaps due to it), Ash studied anything about pokemon with a zeal unmatched, even if the same could not be said for other scholastic subjects.

Such was Ash's zeal and passion for pokemon that he was already gaining the attention of the laudable Professor Oak, who saw the same potential in him as he did in his mother; either as a trainer or as a professor. When not at home or at school, Ash would be at the ranch with the pokemon within; or at least the ones permitted by the professor. Suffice to say, with a mother who loved pokemon (and Ash) with a feverish passion, the eye of one of the most famous professors in the world, and his growing friendships with a multitude of pokemon in the ranch, life couldn't get much better for Ash Ketchum.

Halfway through his eighth year, Delia Ketchum died.

If you were to ask Delia if she had any issue with her apprenticeship to Oak, it would be the attention that it drew. In his prime, Professor Oak was a trainer rumored to be on par with the elite four; according to Agatha of the aforementioned elite four, he actually turned down a position with them. Instead, he chose to dedicate his life to the study of pokemon and the fields of study surrounding them. His work in theoretical physics helped design the backpacks most trainers use today; packs that are able to not only hold more than their outside would appear, but at a far reduced weight. His sponsorship of new trainers (and subsequently their pokemon at his ranch) is the only reason why the tiny town of Pallet is even on the map. This enabled him to not only help bolster the influx of trainers for the League, but it enabled him to study the interactions between pokemon on an up-close basis. Combined with his extensive knowledge of physics and the cooperation of fellow professors, this enabled the design and production of specialty pokeballs suited for a variety of different purposes and types. In short, he was a goldmine of knowledge all about pokemon; and thus so was his laboratory.

Whether it was planned or not, the thieves chose the perfect time to raid the laboratory; Professor Oak was away at a conference in Mossdeep City when they struck using a simple, yet shockingly effective tactic; they dressed up as the janitorial staff that sterilized the lab every night. That being said, everyone who entered the laboratory either had to have one of two things to get in; be let in by someone already inside, or have a fingerprint and passcode registered in the system. Waiting until the sun had just set, the two men approached the door and knocked, putting on puzzled looks with a hint of frustration while one played at entering the passcode and fingerprint. Delia, having been the only person inside at the time and getting ready to leave, saw the supposed janitorial staff and huffed in irritation before making the worst mistake of her life; she opened the door to see what was wrong.

As soon as the lock unlatched, the man standing by the door lurched his considerable weight against the door violently; sending the far lighter Delia tumbling into the lab as the two men quickly entered. It quickly became apparent what they were after as they grabbed the now frightened woman and began trying to get her to access the research files; files worth a lot of money to certain groups. Delia, while scared out of her mind, still had the clarity of mind to press one of the many panic buttons located in hidden areas around the lab; in particular under the desk they shoved her against. The effect was immediate; reinforced metal shutters immediately slammed down on all windows and doors, and the computer systems went into lockdown while an emergency signal was immediately sent to the police station located at nearby Viridian City.

Naturally, this did not sit too well with the thieves. One pulled out a nasty looking nightstick and had a look of murder about him before the other realized their situation and stopped him; the only thing they had going for them was their current hostage. That being said, neither wanted to be there when the police showed up, so one reached onto his belt and pulled out a pokeball, releasing what appeared to be a bigger pokeball…if not for the eyes said ball had. After identifying the pokemon, Delia's eyes widened in fear; there were not many people who used the voltorb line, and many of those who did had only one purpose in mind for them.

Her fears were confirmed when the one who released it dragged her further away from the door, while commanding the voltorb to move next to said door and destroy it by means of the move explosion. This was the man's first and last mistake of the night, and would prove to be a catastrophic one.

To explain why, one must first understand the mechanics behind the move. Typically, the voltorb line excels at the move self-destruct, the less powerful variant. Self-destruct is a simple, yet devastating move; the user gathers all of its remaining energy and expels it all at once at a dangerous rate, causing a small yet potent explosion around them. Having so much energy expelled all at once not only harms the user, but exhausts them to the point of unconsciousness. Explosion on the other hand, is far more dangerous. The user once more gathers all of their energy, but then they polarize it; for the voltorb line, this would mean compressing it with a magnetic field. The user continues to compress the energy until it is dangerously pressurized, then forms a quick but powerful charge of the same polarity in the core of the energy while dropping the field keeping it in place; making the explosion far quicker, violent and potent. For a pokemon who has mastered the move, they will be dealt about the same damage they would have taken with self-destruct…however, mastering a move of such magnitude takes not only great patience but skill; both of which these thieves lacked. For a pokemon who did not have the move mastered, they could easily kill themselves if they used too much energy.

In the end, it was ultimately a lack of knowledge on the technique and bad luck that spelled disaster. Having been recently fed via a wall socket at their motel room in Viridian the night before, the voltorb was full of energy. In addition to this, the place they instructed it to explode was two feet away from the wall panel that contained the powerbox of the lab inside; complete with the main land-line connection. Several things happened when the voltorb obeyed; it drew in as much of its electricity as it could, formed a strong polarized magnetic field around it…and was very surprised when the extremely strong polarized field attracted the power flowing from the land line nearby. To the three nearby, it simply looked as if a lightning bolt exploded from the nearby wall and struck the voltorb. Aforementioned pokemon only had the time to widen its eyes in abject terror before the surge of energy destabilized the internal field and flew into the now dangerously unstable mass of energy inside.

To Delia, when that small pokemon underwent partial sublimation, it felt like Zapdos itself had flown down and barreled into her; for the half-second she was conscious that is. The two thieves, having been a little closer to the explosion, instantly had the skin facing the explosion waft off their bodies like smoke, while the pressure-wave pulped their internal organs and the surge of electricity flash-cooked the pudding aforementioned organs became. Delia, having been behind them and shielded with their bodies, only suffered burst eardrums and a concussion from the pressure. That unfortunately mattered little, as the surge of electricity caused her to go into cardiac arrest while shrapnel from the remains of Voltorb punched through her body. All three of them were thrown into the opposite wall of the lab, while the explosion ripped open the corner of the lab it resided in like a tin can with a cherry bomb thrown inside.

Five minutes later there was a group of bright flashes as a team of league alakazams teleported in a small legion of firemen, medical staff and police officers, whose growlithes were quick to rush in while the firemen quickly released their water pokemon to control the flames. One minute after the dogs entered, the body of Delia was discovered, miraculously still alive but in critical condition. With quick yet steady work, she was loaded onto one of the stretchers and was quickly teleported back to the hospital in Viridian City, the medical personnel ignoring the horrified onlookers.

Upon return to the hospital, Delia underwent defibrillation due to cardiac dysrhythmias three times in five minutes; not long after, time of death was given by the presiding doctor at 9:18 pm.

Ash Ketchum became a ward of the League before the end of the hour.

The next morning, a tired, sore, and disbelieving Professor Oak dismounted his enormous charizard and beheld a destroyed laboratory, a swarm of League personnel, and a very still and quiet Ash Ketchum seated on a cot.

-Scene Break-

The following months were some of the most painful that Professor Oak had ever experienced. Knowing that unless he did something, Ash Ketchum would experience the unpleasant life of going from caregiver to caregiver as a ward of the League, Oak volunteered to be Ash's caregiver; he was already raising Gary and his house was more than big enough. Given his illustrious career and clear evidence of his ability to raise children via his grandson, his request was quickly granted.

Unfortunately, that was the easiest part. Ash had withdrawn almost entirely into himself. Gone was his jovial, energetic self; in its place was a quiet, easily-missed child whom seldom spoke. The psychiatrists and councilors provided by the League heavily suspected post-traumatic stress disorder and were worried he was bottling his emotions inside; and for good reason. Even when he was first informed about his mother's demise, Ash didn't shed a tear; first in denial, then he simply seemed to fold into himself. If he ever did cry, he did so when nobody was around to hear or see him.

As one might imagine, Ash's social life suffered greatly for this; he became a near recluse at school, and his grades were a study in polarization. In all of his classes, he scraped by with the absolute bare minimum; the sole exception being the study of pokemon, which it was obvious he now focused entirely on. Gary Oak, once Ash's rival and (though they wouldn't admit it) best friend, quickly grew disenchanted with this new Ash. Professor Oak had explained the situation to him beforehand, yet he was only nine. He understood the words yet not their true impact; to him, this new Ash was boring and unsettling to be around. By the time of Ash's 9th birthday, their friendship was a shadow of its former glory.

Not long after Ash's birthday, and watching as everything he tried to do to get Ash to socialize failed miserably, Professor Oak was at his wit's end. The combination of repairing his laboratory, increasing security, recovering his research and caring for his ranch on top of caring for Gary and a reclusive Ash caused him to do what in hindsight was his best idea. Without saying a word, Oak marched into Ash's room, hauled the somewhat startled boy over his shoulder, marched over to his laboratory, through it then out to the back where his ranch started, then settled the boy on the ground and went back inside the lab to continue his work.

The sun was setting when Oak remembered that yes, he did put a small nine-year-old child outside with the pokemon about seven hours ago. Rushing to the back of the lab and feeling absolutely wretched for his forgetfulness, Oak nearly panicked when he couldn't see Ash. Immediately, he headed out into the ranch, hell-bent on finding the child and apologizing on his knees if he must. It was nearly thirty minutes later and much colder that he began to truly worry; winter was well on its way and it was extremely unwise for a child to be outside at night.

Thankfully for the professor, one of his own pokemon found him and loped up, already having a good idea of why he was outside tonight. With a gruff yet gentle bark, his arcanine grabbed his attention before gesturing for him to follow. Within minutes, they arrived at a scene that shocked, confused, and relieved him all at once; in a small clearing in the wooded section of the ranch, lied one Ash Ketchum…but he was not alone. Around him laid a handful of young pokemon; two growlithe pups, a squirtle, and a meowth. All of them had sprawled out in the way children do when they're too tired to even care where they sleep and just drop. Judging by the dust, stains and leaves all over each of them, it was apparent they had a good day of playing; what was even better was that Ash too had similar signs; he even had a tiny smile on his face! Yet that was not the most surprising part; the biggest shock was just who was providing the warmth for these young ones. With the tip of her tail acting as a veritable campfire, his massive charizard lay behind them all, shifting her eyes between the young ones and Oak.

While she was not by any means a cruel pokemon, she was still a charizard; and they were a prideful species. Considering how powerful she was in her prime (and arguably still was), she was more prideful than most; yet here she was acting as a glorified heater. Still, he wasn't going to ruin this good fortune by being nosy, so he carefully picked up the exhausted boy and began his walk back home, not knowing how the future shifted because of his simple act today, nor the steady gaze of his charizard on the child as he walked away.

-Scene Break-

Unknowingly to Professor Oak, that day set what would soon become the precedent when it came to finding Ash Ketchum. In the following weeks, a new routine was observed by the people of Pallet. If Ash was not in school, he was in one of two places; asleep in his room or at the ranch, and sometimes he didn't even return to his room to sleep. In his depression, Ash had forgotten his passion; he excelled in his pokemon classes because that's what he and his mom used to do; it reminded him of her. It wasn't until Prof. Oak set him down in the ranch that his love for pokemon slowly blossomed forth again.

Unbeknownst to him or Oak, Flare (Oak's charizard), had watched from afar as the child slowly began to play with the younger pokemon; she was curious about the child, mainly due to the fact that she had never seen a young child in the reserve unguarded. It was only once the wind blew his scent her way that she found out several important tidbits of information. His scent was almost unbearably bitter and stale, a strong hint that he had been extremely sad for a prolonged period of time, and was very sedentary as well. Along with his scent was the familiar scent of her trainer, but confusingly that was it. All children, whether pokemon or human, had the scent of their parents on them, especially at such a young age. This, combined with the prior hint of deep sadness, pointed to an uncomfortably likely fact; his parents were dead or he was abandoned. This discovery, along with maternal instincts long dormant, is what made her approach the boy when he started to shiver in the cold night air.

His wide, adoring eyes and the small smile that curved his lips is what made her stay.

The next few years saw a transformation overcome the boy; while he was by no means a sociable person (to humans), he at the very least would engage in conversation if pushed; even if it was somewhat stilted and awkward conversation. His grades rose from the barely passing standard back up to acceptable ranges; it was clear they weren't going to get much more than that out of him. Unfortunately, his circle of human friends no longer existed; Gary had long since moved on to less 'boring' kids, and the other children followed suit.

While his interactions with his fellow humans improved moderately, his interactions with pokemon was meteoric. Every day he had off, and every moment of free time he had, you could guarantee he would be somewhere inside the ranch. He ate with pokemon, slept with pokemon (if Oak didn't find him), played with pokemon, and communicated with pokemon. Admittedly, it was a rather one-sided communication; they could understand him perfectly, but he struggled every day to understand them via their physical and verbal queues. Yet as the months turned into years, his struggles slowly paid off; he doubted he would ever understand them like he was talking to a human, but he definitely had a firm grasp on the ideas and meanings they were trying to pass onto him.

In Flare, he found an adoptive mother. While he had by no means forgotten his own mother, nor would he ever, he found a warmth (both literally and metaphorically) in Flare that he desperately needed. This was reciprocated by the quasi-dragon, who in the early stages of their growing relationship decided if her trainer and the other humans weren't going to raise him properly (for her idea of properly), then she would just do it herself…with maybe a little help. She wasn't really sure what green things he could eat, since she was a carnivore herself. So, whenever he wasn't playing and roughing around with the young pokemon, Flare and a few other adult pokemon taught him how to track, swim, move silently, forage, and the various different uses of berries; both for medicinal purposes and for nutrition. They tried to get him to learn what different scents meant, but quickly learned that humans had a mind-bogglingly bad sense of smell compared to pokemon, and quickly gave that idea up.

For Ash, his life had gone from a waking nightmare to something approaching paradise. While he had lost most of his old connections to the people of Pallet with the exception of Professor Oak, he had gained so much more from the pokemon residing within the ranch. Most nights he slept with Flare, and the nights he was found by Professor Oak were becoming less frequent as his skills at hiding improved. Admittedly, Professor Oak wasn't really worried; quite the opposite in fact. Flare was second only to his dragonite in strength, and it was a very close second. Add in her now very protective nature towards Ash, and he rather pitied the idiot that tried to remove the boy from her; he doubted there would be enough of them left for a ziplock bag to hold.

In addition to his newfound friends and family, his new lifestyle had yet more benefits being slowly unveiled as he aged. His skin, once a pale off-white due to spending considerable time indoors, had turned a deep tan all the while thickening considerably; playing rough with creatures vastly stronger than you quickly helped clue your body into the idea of thicker skin being a wise choice. Play-wrestling, tracking, swimming, climbing and running for large parts of the day saw his physique undergo a steady transformation; by the time he was 13, he had barely any hint of fat on him. His muscles, while not overly apparent, were lithe and dense, and his stamina easily outpaced everyone in Pallet. Thanks to his new nutrition regiment forced by his adoptive mother and the other adult pokemon, his body had all the required nutrients it needed to flourish; that combined with his newly found puberty (breaking voice and all), found him undergoing a great deal of growing, both in height and in muscle mass.

However, all of this was overshadowed by Flare's quiet reveal not long after Ash's thirteenth birthday. As things were winding down for the night, and Ash was getting ready to bed down as usual, Flare stopped him with a quiet grunt and a gesture to follow. She led them into one of the denser parts of the forest within the ranch, all the while being careful with her tail flame. Eventually she found a spot that suited her purposes, and with a few swipes of her claws gouged a shallow pit in the ground. Gesturing for Ash to simply sit in front of her, she laid down so she was facing him, folding her wings in such a way that he couldn't see behind her. He was confused by her actions but obeyed, sitting in front of her while she began to make odd motions with her body; this lasted for a good ten minutes before with a grimace, she tensed and just as quickly relaxed.

Ash was still confused, especially when she craned her neck behind her to check on something, before looking back at Ash. He wasn't sure why, but something was off, yet not in a bad way. He got his answer about the same time as Flare slowly lifted her right wing…and suddenly he couldn't breathe. Sitting in the shallow pit she dug was a solitary orange and yellow oval…an egg. He had a flurry of questions fly through his head, primarily how the hell she had hidden the fact she was gravid from everyone, but all these were shoved aside when he himself received a gentle shove from Flare, reminding him that yes, he needed to breathe. After regaining his breath (and a snort of amusement from Flare), Ash was nudged towards the egg. Getting the point he slowly approached the egg, getting on his knees as he got close enough. Reaching out with an odd emotional mix of awe, terror, and hope, he gently touched it, not surprised at the almost scalding temperature of the egg.

It took him a moment, but when he snapped out of it he nearly teleported onto Flare's neck as he hugged her with all his might, happy beyond words for her. Just as quickly, he detached himself from her and began looking around frantically, his studies quickly coming into play as he started looking around for the direction of the small lake that inhabited the ranch; he needed clay! Soft grass and moss would burn away under the heat of both the egg and its mother, but clay would hold it firm and insulate it well when it firmed under the heat. He was just about to dart off towards the lake when two very large clawed hands hooked themselves under each armpit and effortlessly placed him down again next to the egg, before putting pressure on his shoulders in a clear gesture to lay down. He did so, but not before shooting a confused look at Flare. She in return gave him an amused huff; he seemed more excited about the egg than she did! Regardless, she managed to convey that one night without the supportive clay wouldn't hurt it, and without further ado laid her head down; a clear indication that it was time for sleep.

The next day saw a stunned Professor Oak doing a checkup on the condition of the egg, his mind still reeling from the fact that Flare had hidden the fact she was gravid so well. Then again, considering her size versus the single egg, he supposed it wouldn't be all that hard. He was also surprised to see just how close she let Ash stay near it; it was one thing to suspect Flare had adopted him, it was another thing to see the concrete evidence in front of himself. Speaking of Ash, he had never seen him so consumed as he was with the egg; whereas before the teenager would be consumed with playing and interacting with the pokemon, now he had to be nearly dragged away from the egg for anything…and he talked to it. A lot. Oak was well aware of the theory concerning the baby being aware of the outside world long before it hatched, but Ash seemed to be convinced it could hear everything, unproven theory be damned. In any case, he wouldn't do anything to dissuade him; while not quite the way he was hoping, Ash had still come out of his shell (even if only to Pokemon).

The following weeks were both endearing and frustrating to Flare and his other pokemon 'trainers'. On one hand, they had never seen nor heard of a human so incredibly attached to a pokemon egg; sure trainers and breeders were typically very happy to learn of them, but Ash's exuberance matched Flare's own. On the other hand, getting him to do anything out of sight from the egg proved its own challenge. Thankfully for the sanity of everyone involved, the incubation time for pokemon eggs are typically rather short, and within three weeks the egg finally hatched. Those few who were allowed close enough to watch witnessed something wondrous.

Naturally when the egg hatched Flare was there, with Ash to her left. Flare was clearly talking quietly to the hatchling inside, most likely soft words of encouragement; Ash meanwhile could be mistaken for a detailed sculpture for all that he moved. It took nearly five minutes before the rambunctious hatchling inside decided it had quite enough of its prison and with a tiny, muffled squeal a small orange, clawed foot tore through the egg. After that initial breach, the leg withdrew before two tiny clawed hands came into view, frantically clawing at the widening hole; it was not long after that the newborn charmander tumbled out of the egg, head flopping onto the ground with a huff. All was quiet for a few moments before Flare leaned towards the baby and began to clean him of the leftover fluid and pieces of egg still on him. Proving the vast difference between a human baby and a pokemon one, the charmander took a few moments before shakily rising to his feet, his tail serving as a stabilizer momentarily.

For Ash, he was amazed at how quickly the charmander adapted to his legs, and watched as mother and son stared at one another for a moment before the charmander snuggled into her side, his eyes squint shut and a pleased sigh escaping him. During the next few minutes, mother and son greeted each other properly for the first time, and Ash was more than content to watch the loving scene from the sidelines; simply basking in the moment. Yet for Ash, fate had other ideas; it was quiet but made all the difference. Ash let out a small sigh of contentment…yet that was all it took.

The small, adorable charmander who had been snuggling into his mother's side, upon hearing the sigh, snapped his head in Ash's direction. Ash felt his breath stumble to a halt in his throat, yet it was not fear that caused such a reaction; it was awe. The charmander's eyes were a light blue; what most would term an 'icy blue' in contrast with his mother's ocean blue eyes….yet contrary to such a description, what Ash saw was the opposite. In those eyes Ash saw a passion that threatened to consume him; it was the color of flames so hot they nearly burned white. Perhaps what was even more shocking was that they were not confused or startled; those eyes stared at him with a deep familiarity. Ash was starting to wonder if it could have been his _sigh_ of all things that it recognized, before it started toddling over his direction.

In moments, but what felt like ages to Ash, the small charmander was right in front of his form, while Ash had unknowingly sunk to his knees as the baby approached. Both gazed into the other's eyes, one searchingly while the other was simply amazed at the vibrancy of sheer _life_ that flowed through the other; to the other pokemon it was somewhat eerie…all except Flare, who looked on with a calm expression on her visage. As Ash stared into those eyes he was once again reminded of flames; flames hot enough to consume everything, and was reminded of an old story back when all types of religions still stood strong. A story of an entity whose flames could scorch everything and usher in something new in its wake.

Unbidden, a name slipped from his lips. "Surtr…"

While none of the pokemon knew the significance of the name, that did not seem to matter to the charmander. As soon as the name was uttered, it's eyes widened and a grin make its way across his face before he closed the distance further, climbing to stand on top of Ash's thighs as he gave an expectant gaze towards the boy. Ash, now with a gentle smile of his own, lowered his own head to meet the now dubbed Surtr's, though he knew not why he felt the need to. As their foreheads connected, each closed their eyes for a minute, reveling in something they could not quite grasp. When they finally opened their eyes again, both broke into wide grins while Ash spoke in the ensuing silence.

"Welcome to the world, little brother."

-Scene Break-

For the next few years, the routine for Ash stayed very similar to what it had before, but with one additional addendum; or rather, one additional being. Whenever Ash was within the ranch (which was every possible minute he could get away with), you could find a charmander with him. It was painfully obvious to Professor Oak that the two would not be separated, thus he silently registered Surtr into the starter program; letting Ash know he would only offer him as a starter when Ash graduated. During the first weeks after his hatching, Surtr could be found clinging to Ash's back or sitting down near him and watching attentively as Ash was taught and in turn taught Surtr; he wasn't quite ready for heavy physical training. Yet with most things concerning pokemon, their bodies mature far faster than a human's and within a month the charmander could be found play-wrestling and learning right alongside of Ash. In the evening, they would both brainstorm on ways to improve techniques and enhance training; it was an unspoken but obvious fact that Surtr would be leaving with Ash when he started his journey. For them, life was good; they had found a brother in the other and Flare looked on fondly, feeling more complete than she had ever felt before.

Yet for all the joys they were having, the same could not be said for Pallet Town; the attack on the lab was showing its consequences. The majority of the populace in Pallet Town had been there for one of two reasons; to be close to the renowned Professor Oak in hopes of their children being one of his sponsored trainers, or to hopefully find themselves as an apprentice under him, and in doing so cementing a vibrant career. This being said, the attack on the lab and subsequent death of Delia Ketchum was a brutal reality check for the vast majority; being near such a well-known figure could bring fortune….yet it could also bring destruction.

For most, this was too much for them; it took years after the explosion, but slowly the population of Pallet Town dwindled to the point where it could no longer be considered a town and was given the dubious classification of "Oak Research Facility". Some of the town's buildings closer to the lab were repurposed by the league to house smaller research labs, whilst the others were either broken down for materials or left as they were 'just in case'.

Yet despite the fact that Pallet Town no longer existed, that did not mean the school stopped; the League was loathe to let such potential talent under Oak go to waste; instead the League offered transportation services from the nearby Viridian City so that aspiring trainers from there could learn under Oak's tutelage in lieu of the now abandoned town. In addition to this, they also increased security at the laboratory to help reassure the populace by stationing a few ACE trainers at the facility.

Naturally, the chance to have one's child taught by Oak, along with the additional security, was a very strong draw to the parents of aspiring trainers. Unfortunately this had an unintended side effect; simple supply and demand. Professor Oak only had so much time to teach; he also had many vital research projects and a ranch to run. This meant that the amount of students he took in was severely limited; thus as with all things in short supply but high demand, this meant that tuition was _expensive_ if one wished to send their child there. As a consequence, it was no surprise that the children who attended were from affluent families; they wanted for nothing, and were very used to this fact.

Gary Oak was thrilled by this surge of 'new blood'. For him, this was an opportunity to make new friends; friends he could relate to. Being the son of Professor Oak meant he lived well above what most of the children from 'Old Pallet' had, and while he got on well enough with them, these new ones he could really relate to.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Ash. His constantly rough/stained clothing, combined with his outdoor tan and somewhat quiet demeanor almost immediately destroyed any hope of a friendship with these new children; they were just too different. That being said, it honestly didn't bother Ash that much; at this point he went to school because Oak let him know in no unclear terms that if he wanted his trainer's license once he hit sixteen that he would have to pass; and that meant showing up for class. Considering that becoming a trainer was the only guaranteed way to let Surtr come with him, he grudgingly went to school.

Unbeknownst to Ash, while most of the new students wanted nothing to do with him, one was rather interested in him; if only in a disgusted fascination. The boy was one year ahead of Ash, and came from one of the more powerful, affluent families in Viridian. There were times the boy would catch a glance of Ash before or after school at the ranch, and would watch in bewilderment as he played with the pokemon. However, his bewilderment changed to calculation as he quickly noticed a pattern; Ash always had a charmander with him. Always. He also noticed that Ash appeared to be training the fire lizard; or at least increasing its endurance and physical capabilities, if the constant wrestling they got into was any indication.

While the boy found himself hard-pressed to catch sight Ash at the ranch each day, as the days turned to weeks and then months, he had caught onto a pattern that let him observe them more often; and a plan hatched. Ash was obviously not a trainer yet, and had no pokeballs, so the charmander wasn't his; and no trainer worth their salt would let a pokemon with such potential rot in a ranch…so that left it as a possible starter pokemon. With a twisted smirk on his face, the boy turned away; it would seem he needed to have a talk with his father tonight.

-Scene Break-

Professor Oak was shaking.

A veritable swarm of emotions were tearing their way through him at the moment, the most potent of which was fear, sadness, and rage. He had just received a call from the Viridian Gym Leader, Giovanni, with a nigh glowing recommendation towards one of his students. Aforementioned recommendation also was quite clear that said student had formally put in his requested starter pokemon as a charmander. It was not a coincidence that the student he praised also just happened to be the heir of one of Viridian City's most influential politicians; one with ties to the Indigo Plateau itself. Giovanni may have been a fearsome gym leader, but he was even more so a political monster; the message was all too clear. Oak even bet Giovanni knew he only had one charmander.

Usually, this would not be a problem; students slated to graduate from the academy to become a trainer submitted their desired starter pokemon two months before graduation, with a few limiters as to what they could choose. Excluding dragons, ghosts and 'pseudo-legendaries', students were free to choose from a large list, with second and third desired pokemon also listed, just in case. The two months enabled Professor Oak to either find the pokemon via the league or other connections, or in rare cases, catch them himself.

If he was given two months he would not have an issue; but the call was made today; five days from graduation. While uncommon, there were trainers that opted out of choosing their starter; he had mistakenly thought the boy was one of them. If he was any other child his request would have been denied due to its late submission…but even in the league, one could find dirty politicians. If he denied the request, he was under no illusion that Giovanni would find out that he did indeed have a charmander registered as a starter. If he was to refuse the request while he had said pokemon, without an appropriate reason, he could have his own license revoked, renowned professor or not. If that happened, the multitude of trainers he sponsored would have to suddenly look elsewhere, not to mention he couldn't sponsor or help his own son or Ash. Unfortunately, saying another student a year under him wanted the charmander was not a sufficient reason.

He had no choice. And he had no clue how to tell Ash.

-Scene Break-

Ash was relieved; the school year had ended, and he had an entire summer to look forward to spending with Flare and Surtr before having to go back for _one last year_. He was slightly jealous of the graduate class; not only do they get to start their adventure, they also had today off to receive their starters and accessories from Professor Oak. As Ash ran back to the house to drop off his backpack, he mulled over that last thought.

' _Speaking of the prof, what's been up with him this week? He's hardly spoke to me or even to much as looked my way….maybe he's hit a snag in his research again; he tends to get grumpy when that happens.'_

Caught up in his musings, he almost ran into the fence surrounding the ranch. Laughing to himself at his inattention, he casually vaulted himself over the fence and into the ranch proper, the pokemon within not even blinking at the sight, having been well used to it by now. In no time at all he found Flare in one of her usual haunts, but while she was near the large boulder she liked to sun-bathe on, she was not actually on it; she appeared restless. Even more odd was that Surtr was nowhere to be seen; he'd have usually tackled him by now. Jogging up to Flare and giving her a hug, he stepped back and looked into her concerned eyes.

"Hey Flare, what's wrong? And where's Surtr?"

Her gestures and growls, along with her clearly pointing to the lab gave him all the clues he needed, yet only confused him more.

"The lab? Prof's got him in there? Why? He's not getting sick is he?" He really hoped not; that wouldn't be a good way to start the summer.

Flare only gave a confused shrug in response; she hadn't smelled any sickness upon her son, nor did he show any signs of it. She was getting worried; he could tell by the way her wing tips were minutely twitching. Getting worried himself, Ash ran to the lab, hoping he could do something if Surtr needed help. However, upon entering the lab he found it oddly quiet. Professor Oak was always doing something; either typing away at his computer, on a call with a fellow professor, or as would be the case now; treating a pokemon if it wasn't serious enough to need a pokemon center. Yet the lab was empty; the computers weren't even on. Looking around the lab, Ash finally found Oak in his personal study; but only because he was looking carefully and saw his white hair behind his large chair.

Having never seen the vibrant professor so still and silent, Ash was both disturbed at the scene and very worried about its timing. Wetting his now dry lips, Ash spoke up.

"Hey uh…professor? Sorry to bug you, but have you seen Surtr?"

The way the professor jerked violently in his chair, along with his choked gasp, did nothing to alleviate Ash's worry. When the chair turned around to reveal a ragged Oak with clear tear-tracks down his cheeks, an icy pit formed in Ash's stomach. For a moment Oak just stared at him, not seeming to know what to say, before he slumped tiredly into his chair as a hand reached up and massaged his brow for a moment before speaking.

"A-ash…" Oak takes a moment to clear his throat. "Ash. You remember when I told you I registered Surtr as a starter in secret, as incentive for you to continue to attend school on a regular basis?"

Ash only nodded, mouth suddenly too dry to speak. The discussion wasn't going the way he thought; he wasn't sure if the current course was better or worse.

"….Ash. Someone found out. I have my suspicions as to who, but that is irrelevant. What matters is that one of the graduating students put in a late request for a charmander as their starter pokemon. I would usually deny such a late request, but it was followed by a heavy suggestion from an….influential League member that the request _would_ be granted. Ash, I only have one-" Here Oak grimaced before correcting himself. " _had_ one charmander." As he finished, Professor Oak looked away, not being able to bear looking at Ash any longer.

For Ash, as Oak continued to speak, so too did a mix of feelings get stronger; disbelief, denial, horror, betrayal…all flowed through him in a churning, sickly mix, yet denial stood out the most; he must have heard wrong, or assumed incorrectly. Quietly, yet filled with a manic denial, Ash spoke.

"Professor…what are you trying to say? If ever I was to ask one thing of you it would be this; tell it to me straight." Already his mind was whirling, trying to figure out plans in case this nightmare was to become reality.

There was a pause before the man took a deep breath and seemed to steel himself before he nodded faintly and spoke. "He's gone, Ash. Early this morning, Surtr was given to the trainer who requested the charmander." In a quicker, desperate tone he continued. "You must understand, I didn't have a-"

Whatever else the Professor had to say, Ash didn't hear. The moment his fears were confirmed, Ash turned around and pelted out the lab like the hounds of hell were after him, his target: route 1. In a small corner of his mind, he could hear the muffled cursing and loud steps of Oak in the background, but he didn't care. Whoever took him had a head start; at least eight hours. Hopefully they stopped to train; if not then he'd just have to catch up as they rested for the night. Yet even as he thought this, issues cropped up in his mind; how was he to find them? How would he know just who had Surtr? Even if he did find them, how would he get Surtr? Stealing pokemon was enough to at the very least revoke any hope of being a trainer, yet how else would he-

Unknowingly to Ash, as he was deep in thought of how to save Surtr he slowed down just enough for his pursuers to catch up to him; Oak had enlisted the help of the ACE trainers after quickly explaining the situation to them. So lost in his thoughts as he was, he didn't even notice until one of them grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around and grappling him to the ground before he even realized what had happened.

"Whoah! Easy there kid, now wait just a minu-huurrggh!"

Whatever else he was about to say was knocked out of him violently, as Ash showed the fruits of training alongside creatures far stronger than a human. With a violent lurch Ash freed one of his arms, which he brought up behind him to dig painfully into the man's side. When the grip around him instinctively loosened, Ash rose to his feet with a tight, angry grimace and kept sprinting. Or he would have, if not for the large purple appendage that suddenly swiped his legs out from under him, then proceeded to wrap around his form snugly.

"Easy there Arbok, just tight enough to restrain! Sweet merciful Arceus, you alright there Aaron?"

Aforementioned 'Aaron', was currently staggering towards the other trainer, holding his side while Professor Oak followed close behind, winded from the short but intense chase.

"I'll be alright….eventually. But damn if that kid doesn't hit like a pissed off hitmonchan!" His eyes held both respect and anger towards Ash; he definitely wasn't expecting that kind of strength, yet he would have rather it not been directed at his kidneys. "A few days of pissing blood and I'll be right as rain." He joked in a crude manner; he'd dealt with far worse after all.

As the three men were composing themselves, Ash could have been mistaken for a rabid animal as he thrashed within the coils of the massive snake; he even tried to bite the arbok, but found out he was wrapped in a manner that would prevent him from doing so. Even despite this, the arbok was currently giving Ash a rather shocked look; while nowhere near as strong as himself, the child (is this really a child?!) was putting up a struggle that would do a pokemon proud. When it became apparent that he couldn't escape this way, Ash did something that made the snake decidedly uncomfortable; he begged unashamedly to him.

"Please…. _please let me go!_ They took my brother, took him and didn't even have the decency to tell me! If you have a heart _you will let me go!_ " When all that accomplished was make the arbok look away uncomfortably, Ash switched tactics. "I'll give you anything, _do anything_ you ask! If it is beyond my means currently then I'll find a wa-" He was cut off by the voice of the one person he least wanted to hear at the moment as the professor got in front of him.

"Ash! Ash that is enough, he is just following the commands of his trainer. There's no need to heap guilt on him just because-"

"Don't you dare speak of guilt to me, betrayer! I trusted you! _WE trusted you!_ And you repaid our trust by handing over Surtr to some stranger without even the decency of letting Flare or I know! If you _EVER_ want to restore my trust in you, you will let me go right now so I can-"

"Can what, Ash?! What will you do? You're smart, think! _If_ you are somehow able to catch up to the trainers that have an _eight-hour_ head start on you, and then _if_ you can find them, and then _if_ you find the right one with Surtr, what then? You'll demand he be handed over to you? Take him by force if you're refused? You'll lose any hope of ever being a trainer if you do that, and definitely never be given custody of Surtr! Don't throw your life away for this, Ash!"

During Oak's rant, Ash remained silent, pupils tightening in agony as Oak unknowingly mirrored Ash's own thoughts on the manner. His breathing grew heavy and his breath started to hitch as his own thoughts swarmed inside his head.

 _'He's right! There's nothing I can do; even if I am somehow able to get Surtr back, I'll be labeled as a criminal and have the League after me! That's not a life I want Surtr to live…and Flare would be heart broken. B-but how else can I…he's my brother! I c-can't just abandon him…I can't lose another family member! N-NOT AGAIN! PLEASE!'_

If there was a psychiatrist with the group, they would have been able to recognize the signs that Ash was about to have a mental breakdown. Unfortunately they did not, so everyone in the vicinity (both humans and pokemon) were caught off guard as Ash for lack of a better word, broke. All the sorrow he held in from the death of Delia, the loneliness that followed afterwards, being ostracized by his peers, and now finally having a new family only to have his brother ripped away from him; it all came rushing out at once. What left Ash's mouth was not a shout, or a scream, or even a roar of rage; it was a keening, rising wail. It was a sound you would typically only hear if something was dying horrifically, and it was not a sound that the men around him knew could be produced from a human throat. Yet while the surrounding men and pokemon were stunned to silence; there was one exception. From behind the tree-line and hidden by the undergrowth, two eyes the color of the deep ocean burned with rage, quickly followed by a titanic bellow.

For Flare, she had been just as worried as Ash, and had thus followed him to the lab yet kept out of sight. While she could not hear nor see what was said inside the lab, she most certainly saw when Ash burst out of the lab in a dead sprint, clearly heading out towards the route outside the laboratory. When she saw the two men in clear pursuit of him, she nearly leapt out to protect Ash, but seeing her trainer following them close behind made her choose to stay put. If she was needed, Oak would let her know.

Seeing some upstart arbok wrap itself around her child drew a snarl to her face…but hearing what her trainer had to say to Ash left her stunned. She was in no way ignorant to the fact that her trainer had his faults; she had experienced many of them in her early days. Yet she could have never imagined he would just…give away her child, without even so much as letting her know! When an anguished wail erupted out of her other child, she cut off such musings; Oak may have his reasons, but she did not care to hear them. With an enraged roar she took to the air, intent on _getting her child away from these people_.

Back with the group, the enraged roar startled the ACE trainers and the arbok into looking up. Oak did so as well while paling; he knew that roar very well after all. With everyone else looking up, all missed when a short but intense blue pulse flashed out of Ash as he hit the height of his wail, and just as quickly the pulse dissipated. Yet even if they had noticed, none would have cared due to the extremely large, _extremely pissed-off_ charizard bearing down on them. The arbok had just enough time to widen its eyes in fear before Flare used her downward momentum to land a devastatingly powerful **Brick Break** right on its skull, instantly knocking the snake out and most likely giving it a rather painful concussion. The arbok's coils had barely begun to loosen before Flare was scooping an unresponsive Ash up into her claws carefully. With a contemptuous snort at the ACE trainers and a disturbingly hateful glare at Oak, Flare took off towards the wilds; leaving two dumbfounded trainers and a heartbroken professor behind.

Despite the best efforts of Professor Oak and a small contingent of League trainers, none could find either Flare or Ash. It would only be when classes resumed three months later that they both returned, yet the events had clearly left their mark upon Ash.

-Scene Break-

When Ash and Flare returned to the ranch, they were almost instantly approached by both Oak and the League team lent to him. Flare flatly ignored all of them, only giving Ash a concerned look. At his nod and a small smile at her, she gave him a reassuring nudge before taking off deep into the ranch; Ash knew where to find her, and she wanted nothing to do with her trainer.

Back with Ash, Oak was relieved to see Ash smile, yet that relief was short lived when he turned away from the fading form of Flare. When he faced them, he lost all traces of joy on his face, and instead replaced it with a flat neutrality. The same could not be said for his brown eyes, which seemed to peer at the League trainers like he would peer at something under a microscope. When the teenager's eyes turned to him, he could only detect disgust; he could not even see any anger at him, which perhaps hurt all the more. It meant Ash didn't even consider him worthy of his anger anymore. When asked where he had been and what made him return, his answer was short, clipped and cold.

"Where I've been is not your concern, and I've come back to finish my training and obtain my license, nothing more."

When Oak pointed out that as his guardian it _was_ his concern as to his whereabouts, his response make the professor unwilling to push the matter further.

"Perhaps if you had spent more time being a 'guardian' to me than kowtowing to political pressure, I would believe your claim. The only guardian I have just flew away to rest, and if you don't mind I'd prefer to join her; it was a long flight back after all, and I can't stomach being around you any longer than necessary."

It was perhaps some of the harshest words ever directed towards him, but Professor Oak couldn't refute them; despite the circumstances and timing being atrocious, he had still betrayed Ash's trust. He did not know if he would ever regain said trust, but he wasn't going to jeopardize it by interrogating the teenager. Gesturing for the League team with him to stand down, he let Ash go; his form quickly being swallowed by the forest.

-Scene Break-

The year between Ash's fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays was perhaps the most uncomfortable for everyone who knew Ash; especially his classmates. While before they had given him thinly veiled looks of disgust for his attire and unkempt demeanor, they certainly did not expect the tables to turn. Instead of the silent awkwardness he exuded the years before, now he returned their looks with a far more potent one aimed towards them. His interactions with them went from stilted and awkward to glacial with thinly disguised hostility. Unbeknownst to them, the fact that his brother was stolen from him due to the spoilt wishes of a rich boy had embittered him towards the 'upper class'. Their constant looks of contempt from the years before only served to reinforce this view in his mind and lend it further credence. This, combined with the fact that Professor Oak was the only other human he _used_ to spend time with, guaranteed that outside of class, Ash Ketchum was rarely seen by the other humans that resided there.

Ash's interactions with pokemon also underwent a change, and although it was a painful thing to observe, Flare and his other trainers understood. Traumatic experiences have a way of changing a person. Ash no longer rough-housed with the young pokemon, instead preferring to 'light-spar' with the more experienced members of the ranch. Granted, he was by no means able to match them in might, but as he was pushed further and further, he was able to last longer each time. This especially helped improve his reaction time and subconscious reflexes; no one likes getting smacked around, after all.

Yet perhaps the biggest difference in Ash was during the evenings; typically when Flare and others would teach him. Ash instead took this time to talk to the pokemon of the ranch and ask them two simple yet profound questions: did you want to be caught, and do you wish you were still a wild pokemon. This was the largest change in Ash Ketchum; he realized something when Surtr was ripped away from them.

Pokemon, once caught, had almost no way of escape.

It was a thought that had him wretch where he stood the first time it occurred to him during his time away from the laboratory. No matter what scenario he ran through his head, there was nothing Surtr could do to escape. One click of a button would see him returned to his pokeball, willing or not. If he tried to retrieve his pokeball by force, not only would he have to make sure his trainer was unaware, but he would almost certainly have to harm the trainer to get to the ball. If that were to happen, it would spell doom for him; pokemon that attack their trainers have one of two things happen to them depending on the severity. First and best scenario is that Surtr would be turned over to the league for 'rehabilitation'; the second scenario is that they deem him too dangerous to humans and put him down. His two options were imprisonment or death. This was why Ash spent his first month back talking to as many of the ranch pokemon as he could; he wanted a larger pool of information to make his decision on.

The results he gained varied, and thankfully it wasn't as bad as he feared. Most of the trainer pokemon no longer wished to return to the wild; the benefits of training outweighed the loss of freedom for them; and most of those enjoyed spending time with their trainers. Yet it was the smaller, yet still sizeable, group that impacted Ash the most. Some of the pokemon very much wished to be back in the wild; most of those he asked either had mates and children, or were children themselves when they were captured. Interestingly enough, there was one glaring difference between those who didn't mind being captured versus those who despised it. Those whom didn't mind being captured almost universally lived on or around the routes that spanned between cities. Those whom despised capture generally lived further out from the routes; pokemon weren't stupid after all. They knew very well that the chances of being caught increased greatly the closer you lived to a route or city.

All of this led Ash to making a rather radical decision, especially considering how close to graduation he was; Ash no longer strived to become a pokemon master. To him, the title now felt akin to a slave master. While he would still register as a trainer, he promised to himself (and a worried Flare) that he would do things differently. He would do the gym circuit and play by their rules…for now. With a newfound purpose, Ash spend the remainder of his time at the ranch continuing to hone his reflexes and physical attributes, patiently waiting for his graduation.

-Scene Break-

Professor Oak wasn't surprised when Ash showed up half an hour early for his starter pokemon; the young man tended to avoid his fellow classmates as much as humanly possible. What did surprise him his that Ash didn't request any specific starter pokemon as most did; yet as soon as that thought entered his mind, Oak winced. _'I suppose his chosen starter was taken a year ago…'_

"Professor."

The cold, short address was one he had unfortunately grown accustomed to the past year, yet that did nothing to quell the pang in his chest. Standing up, Oak turned his head to address the young man as he gathered the items given upon graduation; namely a pokedex and five pokeballs.

"Ah, early as expected Ash. I assume you're here to get your gear and head out before the others arrive, am I right? That being said, since you didn't request a starter pokemon, I've been thinking about giving you this male nidoran I caught about a month ago; his personality would mesh well with your I wou-"

"I'm not taking a starter, professor."

The words stopped Oak in his tracks. Turning to give his full attention to Ash and hoping he misheard, he responded.

"I'm sorry Ash, could you repeat that? I could have sworn you said you were refusing a starter."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, professor."

The calm, assured reply did nothing to quell Oak's sudden cold sweat. Starter pokemon were not just given as a means of congratulations; they were also for protection. It was no secret that humans were vastly weaker than pokemon; even young non-evolved pokemon could kill a human quickly if properly motivated. Yet for all the dangers….technically, Ash could deny a starter. There was no law against it, that'd be like making a law saying it's against the law to kill yourself; utterly pointless. Still….

"Ash, think about this! Route one may be one of the 'tamest' routes, but by no means does that mean it's safe! If you were to run astr-"

"I'm very aware of the dangers, professor. Now please give me my gear so I can be on my way; I'd like to take advantage of the daylight as much as I can."

Recognizing an effort in futility, Oak winced and gathered the needed items. One might wonder why he would capitulate so quickly, being Ash's legal guardian after all. That would be answered by a simple statement; he wasn't Ash's guardian anymore. Contrary to what most people believe, the life of a trainer can be one of the most dangerous career choices possible. You are constantly pitted against creatures far deadlier than you, and your only line of defense is other creatures you have captured. An unspoken and seldom heard truth is that many young trainers go missing within their first year of becoming a trainer; filled with dreams of competing in the league and becoming famous, they underestimate the wilds and often just….disappear. It is because of this danger that not only was the age limit of becoming a trainer changed from ten to sixteen (prepubescent children wondering the wilds; great idea!), but also that upon graduation to a trainer, they were considered adults by the league; aka no more guardians.

Thus, it was a despondent Professor Oak that handed over a pokedex and five pokeballs to Ash. Without so much as another word, Ash walked out and straight towards route one; he had already said his goodbyes to the pokemon (especially Flare) of the ranch, and it wasn't as if anyone else would miss him.

As Oak watched the young man walk out of sight, he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever hear of him again.

 **And that's the prologue for this story, folks. A few things before I wrap this up; there will be quite a bit more talking in the main story than there was in here. This chapter was all about building up Ash's character and his history; what makes him so different from what he's typically envisioned as. Secondly, and yes I realize the hate I will receive for this; no, Pikachu is not in this story. I pondered over this decision quite a bit, but the final decision was made and I chose a different path. Hope you guys have enjoyed it, let me know via review if you want. -Aarik076**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If it wasn't already painfully obvious, I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape, or form. That honor lies with Game Freak and Nintendo; I just enjoy playing in their sandpit.

Chapter 1: Like no one ever was

The departure from the only place he had ever known was an odd feeling for Ash. Not once had he left the territories of what was once Pallet Town; it was both exciting and admittedly terrifying for him. To fear the unknown is something all creatures experience; every instinct we have tells us to stick with what we know; that familiarity is safe…and this is true. That however, did nothing to deter Ash; he had always wondered what lied beyond the ever-present trees; what did the rest of the world look like? It was something he greatly wished to see. He had visited the somewhat nearby beach several times during his youth; he would never forget seeing that endless expanse of water stretching into the horizon.

His anxiousness stemmed primarily from his lack of companions; mainly of the pokemon variety. While admittedly his departure from the laboratory without a starter pokemon would be considered foolhardy to most, he abstained for two reasons. First and foremost was to honor his brother. No matter what anyone else said, Surtr was and would always be his 'starter', though he simply preferred to call him brother. To choose another would, in Ash's mind, sully his memory. The second reason was his relatively newfound animosity towards the entire philosophy and mindset of being a 'trainer'. The act of fighting a creature, knocking it out, then capturing it and forcing it to serve you was nothing less than slavery in his mind. While he had no doubts that there were exceptions to this rule, they were just that; exceptions…outliers.

Thankfully, of all the places to start one's journey, the area of former Pallet Town was one of the safest. Located on a peninsula jutting out south into the ocean, it was a rather isolated area, and thus somewhat easily monitored. This would explain why most starting trainers in Kanto began their journey in Viridian City, which was located only a few dozen miles north of Oak's Lab.

The next few hours of his day saw him traveling along the route at a brisk pace, while his eyes kept on the lookout for pokemon. He knew that most pokemon along this route, especially next to the route itself, were either looking to be caught or were too young to notice. The thought made him pause in thought for a bit, frowning. He honestly wasn't sure how to approach this, now that he was out here. It was nearly an unspoken rule that pokemon expected a trainer to fight them before capturing them; yet he had no pokemon with which to fight. He supposed if push came to shove he could fight them himself if they _really_ wanted to; the vast majority of pokemon in this area were inexperienced and young; he could take them if needed. Still, the thought was not a pleasant one.

He walked a little more along the route before looking up towards the sun; it was about noon, so he decided to eat some ration bars as his 'lunch'. He'd much rather keep moving than stop to fix a meal. That being said, other than the occasional pidgey, caterpie and rattata, the route was rather…boring, truth be told. Just a worn trail that cut through the forest and plains along the route. Frowning as he munched on the bar (which tasted like cardboard), he nodded to himself before heading at an angle from the route into the surrounding wilds. He would stay close enough to see the route, or at least the trail it cut through the forest, but he was more interested in what lied beyond the beaten path.

An hour later, he had his answer for the most part; forest. Lots and lots of trees. He also saw far less pokemon, which made sense; pokemon this far from the trail most likely wanted nothing to do with trainers, not that he could blame them.

Not long after, Ash came upon a clearing, and the breeze that swept across the field and under his red and white cap felt miraculous. Kanto, this region in particular, was rather hot. Being on a peninsula meant it was also very humid; travelling outside during summertime could be very unpleasant. Combine that with travelling through trees that let no breeze through, and it was comparable to breathing in a stagnant swamp.

All this, combined with the alluring breeze, was a temptation Ash could not ignore. Taking off his cap Ash sunk to the ground, leaning against a tree on the edge of the clearing and enjoying the breeze. Time passed by quickly for him, and almost an hour had passed before he heard rustling and squawks from the clearing.

Ash froze; while the calls were not close enough for them to notice him yet, he recognized them: spearow. Probably the only truly dangerous pokemon in this region; while alone, spearow were typically rather weak and easy to fight off…but spearow were never alone. In the wild they clustered together in large flocks, constantly fighting over territory with their rivals in the pidgey evolution line. Their unpleasant, hyper-territorial temperament meant that any trainer mad enough to catch one faced an uphill battle, and for little gain. While their evolved form, Fearow, was indeed a very capable pokemon, it was also far worse than its unevolved fellows in temperament.

All this was bad enough for Ash, but what was even worse was what he could see; spread out between each other by a large margin were several spearows on the ground, looking like spiky balls of fluff as they forced their feathers to stand out as much as possible, while they themselves turned and curved in odd ways. For the average person, they would think the spearows suffered from some illness; for Ash he knew better. This was a mating dance; the males on the ground were showing the condition of their plumage and wings to the females watching intently in the trees above.

' _Mating season. And I just happened to stumble across a flock of the surliest pokemon there are…who are even WORSE during mating season. Great.'_

Taking that as his cue to quietly leave, all the while mentally singing praises to Flare and his teachers for teaching him how to move silently, Ash slowly slunk back into the forest….or would have. He damn near shit himself when he heard the loud gait of someone else nearby trudging through the forest as if they weighed several tons, and actually let out several quiet profanities when they _spoke loudly_.

*gasp* "Is that a….it is! A shiny spearow! Bulbasaur, go!"

Ash instinctively followed the gaze of whom he now recognized as one of his fellow graduates, quickly taking note of the spearow with off-green plumage, yet quickly discarded the information as unimportant; shiny pokemon, while extremely rare, had no special qualities other than as bragging rights for trainers. It said a lot about his fellow graduate that she was going for it for that reason alone. Yet even more alarming was that she _was not paying attention to the situation!_ His stomach dropped somewhere near his shoes as he noticed that every damn spearow had turned their beady eyes in their direction; the time for sneaking had passed it seemed.

' _Shit, this damn airhead has killed us!'_

He recognized her from class; he believed she preferred to be called 'Green'. He also did not give a damn. Turning, he shouted at her, giving this idiot one chance and ignoring how she jumped in alarm, apparently not even knowing he was there.

"You damn idiot! RUN! That's an entire flock of spearow you just pissed off!"

He was already beginning to dart through the trees when he heard several hundred wings flapping furiously, their owners cawing just as fierce. As for Green, he didn't look back; he had given her sound advice when she just possibly killed the both of them; he wasn't going to babysit her too.

Just as he was thinking he may yet escape with his life, he heard a howl followed by yaps of agony. Spinning around, using a tree as support, Ash took a look towards the sound and winced; he couldn't see what made the sound, as it was currently covered in a small swarm of spearow. There were so many they appeared to be lifting it off the ground in their frenzy.

"Shit! Arceus save my bleeding heart!"

Ash started sprinting _towards_ the mob of spearow, picking up several large, sturdy branches from the ground as he did. Internally he was calling himself all sorts of unpleasant names, yet he could not ignore this. While he was well aware that many pokemon were carnivorous and ate others, this was not a hunt. This was some idiotic, pampered snot of a trainer instantly endangering every pokemon within several miles. Being torn to pieces by a swarm of pissed-off spearow was not a fate he would wish upon anyone, let alone some random pokemon that did nothing wrong.

Upon finally reaching the mob, Ash started swinging; and he was aiming for the wings. It might be brutal, but he knew very well that they would do far worse to him; thus he was taking out their ability to follow him. There were several shrieks of pain as bodies started hitting the forest floor, followed by more shrieks of outrage. Soon enough he too was being attacked, and if not for all the evasion training he did he would most likely have died. Even then, by the time Ash had either downed or scared off the small mob of spearow, he had several gashes along his arms, with far more numerous cuts wherever exposed skin was; his clothes were almost certainly a lost cause. Yet none of that mattered to Ash as he quickly dashed towards the fallen form of what appeared to be a canine, scooping it up and continuing to run as quickly as he could through the forest. The group he had frightened away would soon return with the flock, and he wanted to gain as much ground as possible.

His current train of thought was derailed as he felt a maw filled with many sharp fangs latch onto his arm.

"Ow! Will you stop *pant* that, I am not a spearow! I'm trying to save your *pant* ass and you bite me?!"

The maw full of teeth belonged to what he now recognized as a houndour. Its eyes, which had been narrowed to small pinpricks in abject terror, slowly dilated as it realized that no, it had not been picked up by the spearow again. Upon realizing it was literally biting the person who saved it, the houndour unlatched its teeth and gave a whine before relaxing its tensed muscles a bit, its eyes lidding with exhaustion and pain.

As for Ash, while he was very glad he was no longer being bit, he was very worried; the pup was in bad shape. It had only been perhaps ten seconds between when it was attacked and when he arrived to fend off the spearow, but the damage had been done. Multiple, large lacerations marred the soot-black fur, almost all of them oozing blood. A considerable chunk of its left ear had been bitten off, leaving a beak-shaped tear in the ear. Thankfully, the houndour's large bony head-plate had protected its eyes, but its muzzle bore twin gashes that ran across its length. As for the houdour's body, Ash was pretty sure the only reason it hadn't been gutted was due to the two large protective bone plates that curved around its back and sides. Honestly, Ash was impressed the houndour was still awake. That being said, he had to focus on getting away from the spearow first.

The next twenty minutes was a harrowing experience for Ash, which mainly involved finding the thickest part of the woods he could, heading back towards the trail, regulating his breathing, and keeping pressure on his cargo, using his arms and body to help staunch the bleeding. Thankfully, luck decided to stop crapping all over him, and the spearow flock ran afoul of a rival pidgey flock as they crossed into their territory. Ash was sure the battle was bloody and large, but he was too focused on getting back to the path for now; he needed to get to Viridian City quickly.

After twenty more minutes, Ash finally made it back to the route and slowed his pace to a brisk walk to try and get his heaving lungs back under control. Once he had his breath back, Ash quickly set the houndour down, its quiet whimper and lidded eyes the only clue it was still conscious. Looking over its injuries Ash winced; it had lost a lot of blood…most of which was all over his clothes mixed with his own blood. Even if he bandaged it up, he wasn't sure it wouldn't be too little too late. Fishing one of his canteens out of his bag, he quickly crouched down next to the dog. With one hand he lifted its muzzle, and once he had its bleary attention he spoke.

"Hey there, bud. I know you're in a ton of pain and probably feel like doing nothing but sleeping, but you need to drink some water fast; you've lost a lot of blood and need fluids quickly. Just let me pour it in and you gulp it down; we don't have time for anything else."

His only acknowledgement was the fact that it did what he asked, and thankfully drank a considerable amount. He capped the canteen before continuing.

"Ok, that helps a lot…that's good. What's bad is you've lost a _lot_ of blood, and I'm not sure if you'll make it before I get to a pokemon center. I hate to ask this…but will you let me catch you?"

By the way the hound suddenly tensed, he had his answer.

"I know, I don't like it either. Really." He felt the need to add that last part upon seeing the look it gave him. "We don't have a choice; I don't have the items needed to stabilize you, but a pokeball puts your body in stasis. As soon as you get healed I'll let you break the ball; I refuse to force anyone into what is little more than slavery. But we need to do this _now_."

The houndour bent its head over to look at the injuries marring its body, along with the oozing blood. It then looked back at him for a long moment, before huffing in defeat and letting its head rest against the grass, its eyes closing. Ash didn't waste any time, pulling out a pokeball and gently tossing it against the houndour's side before it was drawn into the pokeball. It shook only once before its blinking indicator registered a successful catch.

Ash took little notice, simply clipping the ball to his belt before standing up again. The sudden wave of vertigo that swept through him almost saw him back on the ground, but he pushed through. Ash slowly picked up speed again, and before long was once again full-on running down the road towards Viridian City. While a pokeball put the body in stasis, it did not do the same for the mind; with the injuries it sustained, there was a very real chance of the houndour going into shock if not treated quickly, thus his urgency.

The desperate run was one of the most difficult things Ash had ever done in his life. Dimly, in the small part of his brain that wasn't focused entirely on _just keep running,_ Ash yet again thanked his upbringing. If not for his constant physical exercise and training with the ranch pokemon, Ash knew he would not have been able to do this. Even then, he wasn't sure how; he was already exhausted _before_ he began this mad dash. Yet despite his lungs desperately trying to escape his chest, his breathing haggard and gasping, and his legs feeling like liquid fire replaced his veins, he still somehow kept running.

Unbeknownst to him, under his clothes, a very dim blue light could be seen faintly wisping from his legs occasionally.

It was several hours later in the early evening when the locals of Viridian City saw an odd yet worrying sight; what appeared to be a trainer running down the sidewalks feverishly, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding buildings. Yet that was not what worried them; it was the fact that most of his upper body was covered in blood; even a good bit of his head was covered in dry, flaking blood. Eventually the spectacle drew the attention of an Officer Jenny, who proceeded to try and get the trainer to get on her motorbike; yet every attempt was deftly avoided by the trainer who just continued running. Eventually she decided to follow him on her bike while notifying the EMT of the situation; hopefully together they could stop him and get him the help he clearly needed. Yet not soon after, his destination became clear as he turned a corner and picked up speed towards the pokemon center.

For Ash, he could not recall much of the past few hours; all he could think about was _just keep running_ and getting to a pokemon center. He couldn't even begin to take in the sights of Viridian City in the evening; he was far too delirious for that. Dimly, he thought someone was following him but he didn't much care; what _did_ catch his attention was the iconic red-and-white painted building with the large pokeball on the front; he had found his destination. Pulling from reserves he wasn't quite sure existed, he picked up speed, barely not crashing through the automatic glass doors. Ignoring the few screams and other inconsequential sounds around him, his feverish eyes bore into the alarmed blue eyes of the Nurse Joy on duty. Making his way to the desk, he placed the pokeball down on the desk as he spoke…or at least tried to. His brain-to-mouth function was just as fried as the rest of him.

"Nrse Joy, sperwr attk, hundrr nds hlp qik."

Despite the illegible slurr, Nurse Joy seemed to get the idea and quickly took the ball and gave it to a chansey before just as quickly turning back to him and talking intently to someone behind him. Ash tried to turn to see, yet didn't even make half it half-way before the world violently tilted. Ash was confused, especially when everyone around him seemed to be growing taller very fast. He felt a dim sense of annoyance as he heard yet more screams that hurt his ears, then switched back to confusion as he felt hands wrap around him. He wasn't able to ponder much else before the world went dark.

-Scene Break-

When Ash once more became aware of his surroundings, it was to the strong scent of cleaning chemicals and a pounding headache. Wrinkling his nose at the smell and groaning at the feeling of someone using a jackhammer on the inside of his skull, Ash slowly opened his eyes to ascertain his surroundings. Feeling the almost excessive amount of grit in his eyes as he woke, Ash moved his arm to wipe it away, only for a sharp burst of pain to emanate from his wrist. Hissing at the pain, Ash jerked his arm back to its original position. He heard a door quickly open, soon followed by the strange sensation of what felt like one large limb with an overly-dexterous ending feeling around his wrist where the pain came from, followed by strange yet melodic mutterings. They sounded familiar so Ash completely opened his eyes, thankful for the relative low-lighting around him, and turned towards the source.

A chansey greeted his visage, which made sense as to why he recognized it; Oak had one in his ranch. This one was currently fussing over a needle in his arm attached to a tube. Following the tube, he saw it led to a large bag of what appeared to be water on a rack. His attention was brought back to the chansey as she tapped his arm; he didn't even have to understand what she was saying as her frown and general attention to his wrist gave a more than clear message; _don't touch this_.

Ash opened his mouth to speak and assuage the chansey that he wouldn't, only to suddenly find himself under a rather painful coughing fit. ' _My throat feels like sandpaper!'_ He couldn't ever recall having felt his throat this dry, or suddenly so _thirsty_. He was dimly aware of the chansey rushing out of the room, yet all he could focus on was getting something to parch his throat. He was about to drag the IV stand into what looked like a bathroom when the door opened yet again, admitting not only the chansey, but the clear form of Nurse Joy as well. It was enough to give him pause for a second. Chansey were oftentimes used as nurses in both pokemon centers and hospitals due to their kind and oftentimes maternal natures, along with their soft appearance; where most others failed to calm or soothe patients, they would more than likely succeed. However, ironic as it may be, Nurse Joys only worked in pokemon centers. Ash wasn't even going to try and think about why they all looked exactly alike; he wasn't going down that rabbit hole. Nonetheless, the fact that she was here meant he was in a pokemon center…being treated. All these questions and observations however went out the window as he saw what she was holding in her hands; a large cup. His eagerness drew a laugh from her as the cup was basically snatched from her hands.

"Try and drink slowly if you can manage at first; let your throat get used to it."

For the most part he obeyed, yet paused soon after; this water was…salty? It wasn't an overbearing taste, yet it was definitely there. Glancing down he saw it was also tinged a light pink in contrast to the white of the cup. Before he could ask however, Nurse Joy saw his observations and answered for him.

"Don't worry, that water has just been infused with a good bit of electrolytes; they should help you hydrate faster." Her good demeanor soon vanished however, as she brought up another topic. "That being said, once you are able to talk, we need to have a serious discussion. The state of your houndour was….horrific, to be frank. Far, far beyond what any sanctioned pokemon battle would allow, and definitely can be construed as abuse. If it was just your pokemon that was in horrific shape, you would have soon found yourself being moved to a jail and awaiting trial. However, seeing as how you were far passed delirious and suffering from extreme dehydration, exhaustion, numerous cuts and gashes, along with a moderate case of heat stroke, I'm willing to hear your story."

As she was talking, Ash listened quietly and slowly sipped his drink now that his throat wasn't on fire. Able to think straight now despite the headache, Ash wasn't surprised at the stern, threatening disposition she took as she described the houndour's state. He may not remember the last stretch of that sprint, but he clearly remembered the eviscerated state of the hound before he captured him. If anything, he was pleased to know she not only took her job seriously, but honestly seemed to care for pokemon. He waited until she was done talking and attempted to talk, grimacing and drinking some more before clearing his throat and trying again, ignoring the incessant headache.

"A-ahem. Right. Before I begin, I have two questions; how is the houndour, and why am I in a pokemon center? Shouldn't I be in a hospital?"

Her face softened a small bit on hearing his first question, yet sharpened again when he referred to his pokemon as 'the houndour' and not 'Houndour'.

"Before I answer that, why did you refer to your pokemon as 'the houndour'? You speak as if he doesn't have a name."

Ignoring the terse tone she took, Ash nodded a bit before continuing. "Well, to be honest, I don't know his name. I just caught him hours before arriving at the city, and I won't presume to call him a name before he agrees." He decided to not mention the fact he fully planned on releasing the houndour after this, if it wished.

She looked at him for a bit, as if to weight the truth of his words, before shrugging and answering with a simple. "I see." Pausing for a moment to gather the information, she continued. "Houndour will live, and thankfully has made a full recovery. We had to use blood replenishers to stabilize him, and utilized hyper potion solution due to the severity and number of gashes on his body, but he's fully healed and last I checked was awake, if sore. However, his ordeal was not without lasting effects; the larger gashes will leave scarring and fur growth will be partially stunted at those locations. His left ear has been mangled; a decent chunk of it is missing. Lastly, he suffered two long gashes along his snout. Luckily, they were not deep enough to disrupt his olfactory abilities or breathing, but they are large and very visible scars."

Here she paused to compose herself; while she had seen more severe cases before, they were few and far between.

"As for why you are here and not in a hospital, it was due to your condition. In the exceptionally rare circumstance for a trainer to arrive at a pokemon center in critical condition, we have a few rooms for human patients. Frankly, I'm puzzled as to how you still have intact ligaments and muscles in your legs right now. Considering how all of your vitamin and mineral levels were far below what they should have been when you arrived, your muscles should have long ago cramped up to the point where walking would have been physically impossible. I'm not even going to talk about your tendons, only that you should consider yourself very lucky you have retained the ability to walk and run…once you recover fully, at least. I expect you to remain here for at least a few more days until your vitamin and hydration levels are back to where I deem them sufficient."

While certainly not happy at having his adventure stalled so quickly, Ash was mature enough to realize that Nurse Joy knew far more about the intricate workings of bodies than he did, and that ignoring her input would be foolish at best. That being said, he began his relatively short tale, letting her know of his realization that he was near a spearow flock during their mating cycle. The widening of her eyes, followed by her wince said she already knew where this was going. He told her of Green and her foolishness, along with the houndour who was an unfortunate victim in the wrong place at the wrong time, and how he was forced to capture him to stop the bleeding. His curt ending of "After that, I just ran." garnered a snort of exasperation from the nurse.

There was a visible pause as he ended his explanation, Ash digesting the fact that he nearly died _on his first day_ , and Nurse Joy digesting everything he told her.

"Well…that would certainly explain the multitude of lacerations, along with the missing part of the ear. Alright then Ash, for now you're to rest. If you need to use the bathroom, press the bell icon on your bed and Chansey here will help you; don't give me that look, right now your muscles are too weak to support you at the moment. The remote for the television is in the drawer on the desk to your right. Chansey will also check up on you every hour, just in case. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances and Houndour being your only pokemon, he cannot be returned to you yet. From what I understand, the police have requested a specialized psychic from the League so they can get Houndour's side of the story; most psychics aren't able to bypass a dark-type's energy to connect telepathically, after all. Assuming his story checks out with your own, he will be released back into your care. Lastly, do I have your permission to share what you've told me with the police? Chances are they'll just come in to ask you the same things otherwise." At his nod she left the room with Chansey, and Ash quickly found himself closing his eyes again; his experimental squirming followed by the lances of pain it caused let him know full well that his body needed all the rest it could get.

-Scene Break-

The next few days were some of the most boring he could recall in recent history. No training. No playing with pokemon. No _anything_ besides sleep, eat, crap, and watch tv. He was able to have brief, short bits of talk with the chansey, whom was surprised yet delighted he could understand her even if it was rough and only the ideas she was trying to convey. Even then, those moments were brief and short; the Vermillion City pokemon center was almost always extremely busy. Not only was it one of the larger cities in Kanto, but its close vicinity to the Indigo Plateau was also a factor. As such, he only saw Nurse Joy perhaps once or twice a day too; frankly, he was bored stiff. By the time he was released three days later, he nearly leapt out of bed; his muscles ached slightly at his activity, but it was no longer the ache of overuse, but of inactivity. This was also the day he was given back the houndour he caught; his story correlated to Ash's, and since he held no grudge towards his newfound trainer, they turned him over to Ash's care.

For Ash, he simply held the pokeball in his hands for a few seconds, looking at it with an inscrutable expression on his face before he thanked Nurse Joy and walked out into the city proper. If this little venture had taught him anything, it was that he needed to be FAR more prepared, if his first day of his journey was any measure. Eventually finding his way to a large pokemart, Ash proceeded to make his bank account cry. Frankly, if it wasn't for the inheritance his mother left behind, he couldn't even afford to do this. Yet if there was anything he knew she would approve of, it would be spending it on the safety and health of himself and any pokemon he may get. Muttering a silent prayer and thank you to his mom, he got to shopping.

Several hours later he exited the store, bank account nearly depleted but feeling far safer and confident than he had when he first arrived. His main purchases were numerous, yet all had their purpose. A large, expandable tent made out of thick tarp and reinforced steel rods, able to withstand windstorms and was moderately fireproof; ugly as sin to look at, but very practical with a mottled green color that blended in well. Next was a new backpack with a larger storage capacity and made with a Kevlar weave; expensive, but allowed him to carry vast quantities with him, and would require a pokemon's full attention to damage. Next was a berry blender so he could make nutritious treats for everyone; himself included. Following that, a large water container, designed to withstand extreme heat so as to purify the water inside. A good amount of dry rations designed with nutrition and preservability in mind; good for both human and pokemon consumption and designed to provide nutrients, not taste. He was well aware they would probably taste like cardboard, but they were for emergency purposes only. Potions, antidotes, a few revives, as well as bandages and a suture kit followed; after his last encounter, he was taking no chances.

Hesitantly, he purchased five more pokeballs as well; he didn't even give the other types a glance. Ten was the maximum amount of pokemon one could carry with them, though it was recommended no more than six; as all legal battles had a limit of six-on-six, and taking care of many pokemon could be expensive. That being said, Ash had long ago promised himself he would catch no more than ten pokemon; forcing pokemon to go to a ranch and just…. _wait around_ , hoping their trainer wouldn't forget them just seemed too cruel. Ash fully planned on having his team with him, _always_ , so they knew just how much he cherished them.

Lastly, he chose to update his clothes, he needed something far sturdier than what he originally thought. First, he bought a red vest that like his backpack, had a Kevlar weave; it was thick and stiff, but served its purpose; to protect his vitals. Underneath he wore a simple black shirt with white sleeves, with several identical ones packed away. For pants, he chose dark grey cargo pants that felt like they were made of tarp, yet promised longevity and durability. For his feet, he replaced his sneakers with thick leather hiking boots. His red hat with a simple white half-circle on the front remained; it was one of the few things he had left that reminded him of his mom, considering she gifted it to him the same year she died. His last purchase was more difficult to find, due to how seldom used they were; two matte black nightsticks that would each rest on clips hanging off his belt. While his last purchase garnered odd looks, he didn't much care; if his very first day was life threatening, he wanted to have something to protect himself for next time.

With one last despairing glance at his wallet, Ash set out for the Viridian Forest north of the city both dreading and looking forward to the upcoming conversation ever since he first caught the houndour. It took about an hour, but Ash finally made his way past through the suburbia surrounding Viridian City and into the forest, but only barely inside. Finding a quiet spot with a small clearing, Ash sat down on a rock and tossed the lone occupied pokeball; a red flash heralding the materialization of the hound that he hadn't seen in what felt like forever. The dog was disoriented for a few seconds at the sudden release, before he regained his bearings and his eyes locked onto Ash's form, as Ash did the same.

For a minute, both did nothing, just looking over each other's form. For Ash, it was a rather heartbreaking sight; this pup, who couldn't be much over two feet tall, looked like a war veteran. Scars wracked the small body, the patched black fur only partially hiding the pale flesh beneath created a strong visible contrast. His left ear had its tip and part of its backside completely torn off, leaving a garish reminder of his ordeal. The muzzle, while covered in soft orange fur, did nothing to hide the two large swathes that cut across it, which drew attention to his eyes; black pupils that watched him with equal intensity, yet also showed that he wasn't quite over his ordeal, not that Ash could blame him.

For the houndour, he was getting his first good look at the human who saved him. It was clear by the red welted lines that littered the arms and even a few on the face that the human had not escaped unscathed either, very likely risking life and limb to save him. His main question at the moment was why; he had heard the human lambast the other for her utterly naïve actions, so it was apparent he already knew full well how dangerous spearow flocks could be, yet he dashed into the middle of one and saved a pokemon he didn't even know…it didn't make sense to him. Upon seeing a strange pockmarked pattern along the human's arm, he stared at it in a moment in confusion before wincing in guilt as he remembered biting the human in pure fear. He looked away, feeling rather terrible that he rewarded such bravery, foolish though it may have been, with fangs and blood.

Ash, having been watching the hound intently, saw the wince and upon looking at where the pokemon had been staring, found the red bite marks on his arm standing out in stark contrast with his tanned skin. _'Well, that won't do.'_

"Hey now, I'm pretty sure I know what you're thinking, and let me just say it wasn't your fault. I picked up a pokemon that had just been maimed and thought they were coming back for more; frankly I'm surprised you didn't try and fry me, though I'm thankful nonetheless." Ash finished with a chuckle, realizing he could have been far worse off than just a bite. When the houndour whipped his head back around to stare at Ash incredulously, he just gave a sardonic smile.

"I'm no stranger to the capabilities of pokemon. But let's move on to more important matters; my name is Ash. I know most wild pokemon never use names, instead preferring scents to identify, but I'll ask just in case; do you have a name?" At the hesitant shake of the head, Ash continued. "Well then, I suppose that follows to the next step." Here Ash moved his hand holding the pokeball, the houndour once more looking at it with a wince…yet blinked at what Ash did next.

Slowly approaching the small hound, Ash gently placed the pokeball on the ground right next to it and guided a paw to rest on it, much to the pokemon's confusion. Ash then sat down next to him and continued.

"You look confused, so I'm not sure if you remember what I said or not. When I caught you, I did so because without the pokeball's ability to put you into stasis, you would have bled out and died. But I also promised you I would let you break the ball as soon as you were better." Here he gestured to the ball, ignoring the shocked expression on the hound's face. "There you go. Pokeballs are made of sturdy stuff, but with it under your paw like that you can easily break it."

For the houndour, his mind was whirling with thoughts as he drew his incredulous gaze from the human called Ash to the ball now resting under his paw. He had indeed forgotten that Ash said that…but having been reminded, he now remembered that Ash hadn't just said that; he also mentioned viewing capturing pokemon against their will as _slavery_. Now, he couldn't exactly call himself an expert on trainers, seeing how he tried to avoid them, but last he checked that was not a mindset shared amongst them. Now that he thought about it, he never saw Ash take out a pokemon of his own, yet he was clearly a trainer. As these thoughts went through his mind, his eyes drifted to Ash's belt, where he became even more confused. What few trainers he had seen in his travels had pokeballs clipped around their waist, yet this one had none.

Ash, whom had been watching the houndour in his silent contemplation, noticed the hound's wandering eyes focus on his belt. It took a moment for him to guess its thoughts, but when he did he chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head in minor embarrassment before he spoke.

"Ah, you're probably wondering where my other pokemon are, aren't you?"

The houndour very much wanted to let him know that was just one of _many_ questions he had, but since he didn't know how to communicate that, just settled for nodding.

"Ah…ehehe. Well um, that is to say… I don't. Have any other pokemon, that is."

At this admission, the houndour's face went through several different emotions. The first was obvious; shock. A pokemon trainer without a pokemon just didn't make sense, it was unheard of. The next expression was marred by two very different emotions; gratitude and anger. Gratitude since that meant this human, Ash, jumped into danger to save him without any backup. Anger for the exact same reason; while brave, it was also exceedingly foolish. Unbeknownst to the houndour, he was verbalizing his thoughts. What made him stop and blink was when Ash somehow started piecing together what he was thinking; his sharp ears easily picking up Ash's mutterings.

"Hrm…never spoke with the houndour line before…seems to bear a close resemblance to how the growlithe line speaks, which makes sense considering both are canid." Here his mutterings became incomprehensible as he attempted to piece together what the hound had said, seemingly lost in his own world until he looked up and addressed the now confused hound in front of him.

"Could you repeat that again? I haven't spoken to one of your line before, it's a little like the growlithe line but with a _really_ heavy accent, I just need to piece it together."

For his part, the houndour was looking at Ash carefully; there were two possibilities in his mind, and both were crazy…just in completely different ways. Either this human could somehow 'kinda' understand pokemon, which was amazing…or he was absolutely off his rocker. Considering how he charged an enraged flock of spearow with no pokemon, option two was looking very likely, much to his worry. Ignoring Ash's request, he decided to be blunt and find out which it was. What came out of his maw would sound like barks, growls and groans to humans, but what he said was simple; "Can you understand me?"

Ash for his part was a little annoyed that the canine obviously said something completely different, but the serious look on it's face put his annoyance to the side. It took a little bit of mulling over, but Ash figured he got the general gist of what was said; it even made sense too, considering the situation.

"Did you ask if I could understand you?" The widened eyes and the way the hound now focused intently on him gave away the answer. "Hrm…well to be fair I can't…at least not like how you can understand me. I don't really understand your words so much as I understand the meaning behind the words. Even then, if it's a species I've never spoken to before, I need time and patience to basically learn that particular 'dialect'. The only reason I can, with effort, understand your meanings is due to your close resemblance with the growlithe line."

Here Ash paused, not even needing to look at the houdour to know its next question, yet hesitant to answer. After a moment of contemplation Ash nodded to himself; it may be faint, but the fact that the houndour hadn't broken the pokeball yet gave him enough hope to continue.

"I already know what you're going to ask; why? Why go through all that trouble? That is…a very long story, but I'll give you the short version. Get comfortable though, the short version is still pretty long."

Taking his words to heart, the houndour settled down fully, one of his paws close to the pokeball yet no longer on it; he wanted to hear this story, hear why this strange trainer became what he is today. He at least owed Ash that much.

"I was, at first, much like any other kid. Dreaming of becoming a trainer, becoming famous, having a ton of pokemon. In a word, I was naïve. But I suppose that's a good thing for a kid to be, isn't it? Anyways, I had a mom named Delia Ketchum, never knew who my dad was, never felt right to ask." Bringing up his mother wasn't easy, the slight grimace on his face being his only tell. The houndour caught that, and didn't miss how he said _had a mom_. He didn't like much where this was going, but it wasn't uncommon in the wild either.

"She worked with a professor in what used to be Pallet Town, south of here. Worked with and around pokemon constantly, and thus so did I. Looking back, it was paradise. Everything I wanted. And then she died. I was told there was an explosion at the lab that took her life, but I didn't much care for the details. I was just a kid when she died, and for months afterwards I simply…fell apart. I wanted nothing to do with anyone, even pokemon. Eventually the professor I suppose got tired of me moping around and put me in the pokemon ranch for the day as he went to work. It was then that things changed; as I watched the young pokemon play, I couldn't help but want to play as well, as all kids do. It was a little odd at first, but in no time we stopped seeing each other as human and pokemon, and instead just fellow kids and playmates as we roughed around. For me it was cathartic; no pitying looks or empty words, no disappointed sighs or lectures. My love for pokemon came back to life with zeal; since the last of my known family was dead, pokemon were the only thing left that I loved. We played the day away, and all too quickly it was becoming night and it was getting colder. The other kids had by then gone to their awaiting families, and I was starting to get very cold…and then she came. A female charizard had apparently saw my plight and took pity on me, offering me warmth that I gladly accepted." Here he paused, remembering that night fondly. Upon seeing the incredulous, disbelieving look from the houndour, Ash laughed.

"I know, sounds crazy right? It gets crazier. After that I spent all the time I could in the ranch, doing everything with the pokemon within. Playing, eating, sleeping…and, with a lot of trials, errors and effort, talking. It's how I understood you just now; through years and years of being surrounded by pokemon and their language. Here's where it gets crazy; that charizard that helped me the first night? Well, she did the same the next night…and the next; and the next after that. Eventually it seemed she decided that if none of the humans were going to raise me, she'd just have to do it herself; and thus I was adopted by my new mom, Flare the charizard." Ash laughed again at the face the houndour was making, enjoying his reactions greatly. Yet as he continued, he grew wistful.

"She and a few of the other elder pokemon in the ranch banded together to teach me what I assume most young pokemon are taught; how to forage, move silently, track, and if need be, hunt. For a good long while my life consisted of school, followed by playing, training, eating and sleeping with pokemon. Yet one day things changed in a wonderful way. Unbeknownst to me, Flare had been gravid for a while, and gave me the surprise of my life when she showed me the egg she had lain. Once I got over my shock I was overjoyed; I was going to be a big brother, even if not by blood! The following weeks were some of the most anxious in my life, but it eventually happened, and the egg hatched."

Here, Ash's eyes took on a distant look in what was clearly fond remembrance; it was what helped convince the houndour that this was all true.

"When I first laid eyes upon my new brother I was struck speechless, and when he looked at me, I'm pretty sure I forgot to breathe; his eyes spoke of a passion for life that left me humbled, a blue so bright it burned. His name is Surtr, and for years afterwards we did everything together if it was possible. We both agreed that when I began my journey as a trainer, he would be my starter, though we both didn't think of it that way. Those years were the happiest I've ever been…" Here Ash trailed off, and it was very clear to the captivated houndour how Ash's face crumpled in a mixture of anger and grief.

"…and then he was taken. Taken because some rich, spoilt brat of a trainer wanted my brother for his potential power. I wasn't even told ahead of time; I just came back to the ranch from school, and found out he was long gone. I was…devastated, and so was Flare. Angered beyond belief, she took me into the wilds and we stayed there for a few months as we grieved. It was there that I made an epiphany, and changed my outlook on being a trainer forever."

Here he paused, looking the houndour dead in the eyes before continuing.

"I put myself in my brother's place; bound to some ball that could instantly hold him against his will, completely at the mercy of the one who owns said ball…and I suddenly understood. What do trainers typically do? Go out into the wilds, find a pokemon they desire, fight said pokemon, and when it is too weak to protest, capture it against it's will and have it fight for it's new master. Granted, there are exceptions to this, and many pokemon go out of their way to look for trainers so they can be captured and get stronger, but that does not excuse the fact that pokeballs can, will, and are being used to basically enslave pokemon, stealing them away from whatever life and/or family they had beforehand."

Ash paused a moment, before lowering his face so it was close to the houndour's own.

"I no longer wish to be a pokemon master. I don't even want to be a trainer in the traditional sense, since that implies I own pokemon. I want to make a change; I want the rest of humanity to realize what I've realized; that to even think of owning another sentient being, regardless of their shape or species, is wrong. But I can't do that if I'm an unknown; in order for my words to be heard and considered, I need to become recognized and respected; being a famous 'trainer' is the best route for this to happen. That being said…" Here he glanced at the still intact pokeball by the hound's feet and back at his eyes again. "The fact that you haven't broken your ball yet gives me hope that you'll consider carefully what I say next. In order for me to become a famous trainer, I'll need a team. If you are agreeable to it, I would very much like for you to be part of that team…but make no mistake, this would only be a team on paper. To the rest of humanity, you would be part of my pokemon team; but to me? You'd be an equal; you'd have just as much say as I do, and I would hope that in time we could be friends. I have no interest in training a team…but training a group of friends, even family? I can get behind that." It was hesitant, but Ash slowly offered his hand. "This is your choice; I will abide by whatever decision you make."

For his part, the houndour was reeling. Not only was the story that Ash told the most unique he's ever heard, but here was a human who actually understood. While he, like the vast majority of pokemon, desired to get stronger, he refused to give up his freedom for it; he would never become some trophy to be shown off and used. Yet this one offered a viewpoint he'd never even considered possible; equality and understanding. Granted, if he accepted this, he would still be at the mercy of a pokeball…but this human, Ash, gave him all the time he needed to break his ball and flee.

The houndour mulled over it for a bit, almost won over, yet needed to do one last thing. Raising his head, he looked at Ash and let his senses tell him the story. The human's eyes were the most telling, nervousness being the most prevalent with his nose confirming it…yet hope shone bright as well. The hand he held out shook minutely, yet remained where it was. There was no deceit here, only a fervent hope. The hound paused, closing his eyes and nodding to himself before he opened them once more, a new goal gleaming within. Stepping forward, the houndour placed his front left paw firmly on the trembling palm, giving a bark of approval as he did so.

Ash nearly broke his composure as he both felt and watched this brave little houndour place his trust in him; this was it, the beginning of something great. His eyes ablaze with joy, he slowly closed his fingers around the paw as he spoke.

"I swear to you now, with Arceus as my witness, I will not fail you, nor abuse this trust you placed in me. You are now my partner, and equal, and I will do everything I can to see you thrive like nothing this world has ever seen." Ash's smile was stretched almost painfully across his face as his eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

"Welcome to the family."


End file.
